A playback apparatus includes: an acquiring unit that acquires auditory language data including data to be played back as a spoken voice; an analyzing unit that analyzes the auditory language data to output an analysis result; a setting unit that sets at least a portion of the auditory language data to a control portion to be played back at a set playback speed, based on the analysis result; and a voice playback unit that plays back the control portion as a spoken voice at the set playback speed.
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1. A playback apparatus comprising: an application execution unit configured to connect to a site to acquire auditory language data including data to be played back as a spoken voice; an analyzing unit configured to determine a type of the auditory language data based on a type of the site to output an analysis result; a setting unit configured to set a unit positioned at an end of a sentence included in the auditory language data to a control portion that is played back at a lower speed than a part of the sentence not at the end of the sentence in a case in which it has been determined that the application execution unit is connected to a social network service (SNS) site based on the analysis result; and a voice playback unit configured to play back the control portion as a spoken voice at a set playback speed.
A playback system acquires spoken language data from a website. An analyzer determines the data type based on the website (e.g., social network). If the source is a social network, a setting unit designates sentence-ending portions of the data as "control portions." The system plays back these control portions at a slower speed than the rest of the sentence. A voice playback unit then plays back the control portions at the specified slower speed, effectively emphasizing the ends of sentences in social media audio.
2. The playback apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising: a detecting unit configured to detect a user instruction of a playback speed, wherein the voice playback unit is further configured to play back a portion of the auditory language data not set to the control portion at a playback speed corresponding to the user instruction.
Building upon the playback system which slows down sentence endings when playing back audio from social networks, this enhancement adds user control over playback speed. A user can adjust the playback speed, and the system will play the non-"control portion" (i.e., the parts of sentences that aren't the ends) at the user-defined speed. So, the slowed-down sentence endings from social media are always slow, but the user can speed up or slow down the rest of the audio.
3. The playback apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the instruction detecting unit is further configured to detect a playback speed reduction instruction instructing a reduction of the playback speed as a user instruction, while the auditory language data is being played back at a first playback speed, the voice playback unit is further configured to wind back the playback position of the auditory language data in a response to the playback speed reduction instruction, and the voice playback unit is further configured to play back the auditory language data from the wound back playback position at a second playback speed that is slower than the first playback speed.
Expanding the playback system with user-controlled speed, this improvement lets users reduce the playback speed during playback. If a user issues a "slow down" command, the system rewinds slightly and replays from that earlier point at a slower speed. Specifically, the voice playback unit rewinds the playback position and then plays the audio from that rewinded position at a slower speed than it was playing before the speed reduction instruction.
4. The playback apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the auditory language data comprises a plurality of units including a first unit, the instruction detecting unit is further configured to detect a speed reduction instruction that instructs a reduction of playback speed as a user instruction while the first unit is being played back at a first playback speed, and the voice playback unit is further configured to play back the auditory language data from a beginning of the first unit at a second playback speed that is slower than the first playback speed, in a response to the speed reduction instruction.
Further refining the slowdown feature, this improvement provides a more granular rewind point. Now, when a user requests a slower playback speed during a "unit" (a segment of audio), the system rewinds to the beginning of the current "unit" and plays from there at the reduced speed. The first unit plays back at a slower speed from its beginning in response to the speed reduction instruction.
5. The playback apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the auditory language data comprises a plurality of units including a first unit; the instruction detecting unit is further configured to detect a speed reduction instruction that instructs a reduction of playback speed as a user instruction while the first unit is being played back at a first playback speed, and the voice playback unit is further configured to play back the auditory language data from a playback position that is earlier than a beginning of the first unit at a second playback speed that is slower than the first playback speed, in a response to the speed reduction instruction.
This is a variation on the slowdown feature's rewind behavior. Instead of rewinding to the start of the current audio "unit," the system rewinds to a point *before* the beginning of the current unit when the user requests a slower playback speed. This ensures that some context leading into the current unit is replayed at the slower speed. The rewind point is earlier than the current unit's beginning, and playback resumes from that point at a slower pace.
6. The playback apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the voice playback unit is further configured to increase playback sound volume of the control portion.
In the playback system that slows down sentence endings from social networks, this addition increases the volume of the slowed-down "control portions." This makes the emphasized sentence endings even more noticeable by boosting their audio volume during playback.
7. The playback apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising: a display unit configured to display the auditory language data by text in a scrollable manner; wherein the detecting unit is further configured to detect a scroll operation with respect to the auditory language data displayed by the display unit as a user instruction of the playback speed.
Integrating text display, this improvement adds a scrolling text display of the audio content. The user can then interact with the scrolling text – for example, by scrolling faster or slower – to control the playback speed. The system detects scroll operations as user instructions for controlling playback speed.
8. The playback apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the display unit is further configured to perform scrolling of display so as to display by text a portion of the auditory language data that the voice playback unit is playing back.
Building upon the text display integration, this enhancement adds synchronized scrolling. The scrolling text display automatically scrolls to show the portion of the audio that is currently being played back. This provides a visual cue to the user, linking the audio playback to the corresponding text.
9. A setting apparatus comprising: an application execution unit configured to connect to a site to acquire auditory language data including data to be played back as a spoken voice; an analyzing unit configured to determine a type of the auditory language data based on a type of the site to output an analysis result; and a setting unit configured to set a unit positioned at an end of a sentence included in the auditory language data to a control portion that is played back at a lower speed than a part of the sentence not at the end of the sentence in a case in which it has been determined that the application execution unit is connecting to a social network service (SNS) site based on the analysis result.
A setting system prepares spoken language data for playback. It connects to websites to acquire audio data. An analyzer determines the data type based on the website. If the source is a social network, a setting unit marks sentence-ending portions of the data as "control portions," indicating they should be played back at a slower speed.
10. A playback method, executed by at least one processor, comprising: connecting to a site to acquire auditory language data including data to be played back as a spoken voice; determining a type of the auditory language data based on a type of the site to output an analysis result; setting a unit positioned at an end of a sentence included in the auditory language data to a control portion that is played back at a lower speed than a part of the sentence not at the end of the sentence in a case in which it has been determined that the application execution unit is connecting to a social network service (SNS) site based on the analysis result; and playing back the control portion as a spoken voice at the set playback speed.
A playback method, performed by a computer, acquires spoken language data from a website. It determines the data type based on the website. If the source is a social network, it marks sentence-ending portions of the data as "control portions" to be played at a slower speed. Finally, it plays back these control portions at the slower speed.
11. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing program that causes a computer to execute: connecting to a site to acquire auditory language data including data to be played back as a spoken voice; determining a type of the auditory language data based on a type of the site to output an analysis result; setting a unit positioned at an end of a sentence included in the auditory language data to a control portion that is played back at a lower speed than a part of the sentence not at the end of the sentence in a case in which it has been determined that application execution unit is connecting to a social network service (SNS) site based on the analysis result; and playing back the control portion as a spoken voice at the set playback speed.
A computer program stored on a storage medium instructs a computer to perform the following steps: acquire spoken language data from a website, determine the data type based on the website, mark sentence-ending portions of the data as "control portions" to be played at a slower speed if the source is a social network, and play back those "control portions" at the slower speed.
12. The playback apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the analyzing unit is further configured to determine that the auditory language data is a social network service (SNS) posting in a case in which the application execution unit is connecting to an SNS site.
In the playback system which slows down sentence endings for audio from a website, if the application execution unit is connecting to a social network service (SNS) site, the system specifically recognizes the audio data as social network postings. This allows the system to tailor playback (i.e. slowing down the end of the sentence) to the characteristics of SNS content.
13. The playback apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the analyzing unit is further configured to determine that the auditory language data is a newspaper article in a case in which the application execution unit is connecting to a site for viewing a newspaper article.
In the playback system which slows down sentence endings for audio from a website, if the application execution unit is connecting to a website that displays newspaper articles, the system specifically recognizes the audio data as a newspaper article. This allows the system to tailor playback to the characteristics of newspaper content.
14. The playback apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the setting unit is further configured to set a unit positioned around a middle of a sentence to the control portion, in a case in which the auditory language data has been determined to be a newspaper article.
When the playback system determines that the audio data is from a newspaper article and is using the feature of slowing down portions of the audio, the system designates units in the middle of sentences as the "control portion" for slowed playback. This contrasts with social network content where only the end of sentences are slowed down.
15. The playback apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the analyzing unit is further configured to determine that the auditory language data is a webpage in a case in which the application execution unit is connecting to a website other than an social network service (SNS) and an article.
In the playback system which slows down sentence endings for audio from a website, if the application execution unit is connecting to a regular website (not a social network or news site), the system recognizes the audio data as generic web page content. This allows the system to apply a specific playback profile to generic webpages.
16. The playback apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein the setting unit is further configured to set a title to the control portion, in a case in which the auditory language data has been determined to be a webpage.
When the playback system determines that the audio data is from a webpage (not a social network or news site) and is using the feature of slowing down portions of the audio, the system designates the webpage title as the "control portion" for slowed playback. This focuses the user's attention on the title of the webpage.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
October 11, 2013
August 8, 2017
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